towerofanimus | Wave 3 | Aftermath

Entry tags:

Wave 3 | Aftermath - Open

Characters: Tahno and anybody!
Setting: Floor 90
Format: Prose to start, but I'll match you.
Summary: The Wolfbat King never thought he'd die, except maybe in a drunken coma. He can still feel the gears grinding through his entire body.
Warnings: Recounting a pretty gruesome death. Traumatized superstar athlete. Probably swearing.

Ten minutes. Ten minutes he couldn't move, and yet it felt like hours. He didn't know what to think. Did that kid break his neck and paralyze him? No, he had done more than that. He had torn through his skin and his bones and his insides and split him into... how many pieces?

How was he awake, then? Did the tower do something to bring him back?

He didn't know, and didn't care. When he could finally move again, he stumbled out of his room and began to wander the tower. He didn't know how high he'd climbed, but eventually his legs were about to give out, so he stopped on floor 90. The lagoon in the middle looked so refreshing. Water.

He almost ran and threw himself in, but before he hit the water, he saw the creatures inside. He didn't want to go in anymore. So he sat a few feet away with his knees to his chest and pulled out some water for himself. He held it on his hands, and didn't like how warm it was. He froze it, and then it hurt.

But it hurt in all the right ways

A moment later, he pulled more out of the pond until he could coat his whole torso in it. And then he lowered the temperature until it wasn't quite frozen. But it hurt.

Do you dare approach someone who feels so... lost?

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Tohko usually didn't come this far down, but she wanted to write up and work on her song for V/V, and she needed time to think up her own battle plans for later..without her retrieval unit of a stalker seeing her. Thus, she had been required to run down as fast as she could down..and while she managed to escape the drone, when she saw Tahno freezing himself in ice, she ran over to herself, drawing a dagger with the intent to chip away at it.

"Tahno?! What are you doing? You'll kill yourself if you keep this up!"

He really wasn't expecting to see anyone in here for some reason. That was kind of dumb because there were people on every other floor of the tower. Still, the voice startled him, but all he heard was 'Tahno' and 'Kill', which was enough to rip a very feminine scream from his mouth, and make him fall forward. The ice all melted in an instant, soaking him and the ground.

He flipped over in a flash and used all the collapsed water to make the thickest ice shield he could between him and Tohko.

That is, until he finally realized who it was. He could tell she wasn't a drone. But yet she had a knife drawn? He pushed himself up and sprinted just a few feet away before remembering that he was a Wolfbat and that he could probably take a girl with a knife. He turned and melted the ice shield and pulled it onto his hands.

And then he stood his ground again. Like a Wolfbat should.

"You think I'm stupid enough to freeze myself... to...?"

His voice trailed off. Even thinking about dying again was too much. He swallowed and tried to give her a hard look. It wasn't working very well.

Edited 2013-04-22 01:06 (UTC)

Tohko kept walking over to him as he yelled and fell forward, his ice melting. As he tried to recover and spoke, she sighed and put her dagger back in it's belt. She had drawn it out to thaw him out..but now that he wasn't frozen, it wasn't needed.

"That looked like what you were trying to do to me. I was going to thaw you out, not kill you, so don't worry. And be careful..if you get close to the lagoon, the mermaids will try to kill you. However..are you alright? By that reaction, I'd say that this event's worn on you too."

He eyed the dagger suspiciously even after she put it away. After she spoke, though, he looked over at the lagoon with the mermaids. He took a step back from it, despite being far enough away from it already.

"I'm fine," he told her through clenched teeth, the look in his eyes betraying him as he stared into the deadly water.

"I'm a waterbender, and icing moves are my specialty," he said, trying to convince both her and himself of his competence. "I can thaw myself out whenever I want."

He let the water creep up his arms and freeze again. That didn't hurt as much. He was used to freezing parts of his arm for the pro-bending matches at home.

"What the hell do you think is going to happen when you run at someone with a knife, anyway?! Yeah, it makes you look real friendly!"

He actually managed to sound and look angry for a moment there. His face fell right back to fear once he was done.

Tohko sighed as she scratched her head with her one free hand. The other was holding her notebook and her pen. Even if Tahno was a waterbender, and even if she did hate the guy, that didn't mean that she liked seeing him emotionally hurt or trying to freeze himself.

However, instead of an angry look, Tohko..put on a warm smile instead.

"You may be a waterbender, but you're not fine. You don't look or sound it..not that I could really blame you. This whole even has been horrible for everyone..and just because you can thaw yourself out any time you want doesn't mean you should freeze yourself. You'll die or get injured if you're too cold. And I may have not looked friendly..but I was planning on busting you out of the ice. I'm sorry if I scared you."

Yes, Tahno, a genuine apology from Tohko.

He hardly noticed the pen and notebook. Those weren't dangerous. Well, maybe the pen, if she really wanted to, but it didn't seem like a big deal to him.

He tilted his head a bit as she spoke, confused as to why she was being so nice. Their last few interactions hadn't exactly been friendly chit-chat. He didn't believe her for a minute. He unfroze his arms and bubbled it around his hands again. For a split second he really wanted to throw it at her just to take it all out on someone.

But that was dumb.

That wasn't usually how he took out his frustrations, anyway. It was the ring or the bedroom. He'd never go hitting people out of the ring. (Unless that's what they wanted of course.)

Finally he let go of the breath he didn't even notice he'd been holding, and tried to fix his hair with the water before throwing it back to the lagoon. It wasn't perfect, but close enough.

"Try something a little less threatening next time," he told her, though his voice was still shaking a bit. "Why do you care, anyway? I'm not your problem."

He was used to people not really being genuine with apologies. He was used to nobody really caring about him unless he had his attitude, fame, and money.

If Tahno had thrown the water at her and soaked her notebook, she would have lost it and slapped him at the very least. It contained precious stories, songs, plans, and pieces of Enoch's story that he had given her. It was quite good that he didn't decide to take that route.

At the question, Tohko sighed and scratched her head.

"Sorry..I should have thought of that before. I'll remember that for the future. However, while you may be an idiot, and while we may not be friends, that doesn't mean that I want to see you suffer or die. Even if we're not on good terms, if I can help you out, then I'd like to."

"It's not like you ever would've gotten to me with a knife, anyway," he said, finally cracking a sort-of-genuine, but still smug smile.

He wasn't going to thank her for her concern. He hadn't thanked anyone in a long time. Well, maybe some of the waiters at the noodle bar or his fans or something.

"Seems like everyone suffers and dies here, though. There are other people you should be worrying about."

He wasn't sure what he meant by that... Was he telling her that she didn't have to worry about him, or was he saying that he wasn't worth her time? Maybe it was both.

"Maybe not..but I am pretty good with these things, you know. I haven't been training for seven months for nothing..but, if I had wanted to fight, I would have electrocuted you for starters." While she spoke, Tohko smiled, and she wasn't really being serious about the whole thing.

Tohko didn't really expect to get thanked..but that reaction just make her chuckle a little. That sounded like something that would come out from Diarmuid, not this smug jerk.

"..Maybe, but for right now, I'm worried about you. Just because we all suffer and die here doesn't mean that I'm going to ignore you, even if we're not really friends."

"Electrocuted?" He asked, actually sounding shocked (no pun intended). "With what?!"

There were two kinds of people he knew of who could do that. Firebenders, which he was pretty sure she wasn't, and the Equalists who were out to take away Bending forever. The latter was more of a problem, really.

He couldn't help but roll his eyes at her second comment. A part of him really did appreciate it, but his pride and Wolfbat mentality wasn't going to let him show that. He spent a few seconds of awkward silence trying to figure out what to say.

"Sounds like you're in denial, then," he finally said with an exaggerated shrug. "One of those 'good girls' who won't admit she wants a taste of what I've got!"

There was humor in his voice this time, and it wasn't shaking anymore. He was trying to be... sort of nice with that comment? He just didn't know how to anymore.

Thankfully, Tahno didn't have to worry about Tohko being an Equalist. For one thing, she didn't know what they were, but if she did..she wouldn't be on their side at all. After all, she loved magic, and taking away something akin to it would be terrible for her. At the question, she held up the hand that had her Lightning Ring.

"With this. Just a little concentration, and I can summon lightning. I can pull off rain as well..but if you're fighting, rain doesn't usually help unless you're putting out a fire or using it to conduct."

And that second comment made her blush, but it wasn't accompanied by any sweet or bashful look. Tohko looked more annoyed than anything else. She was trying to be nice to this jerk, and he had to go and insinuate something like that! Honestly, even Maki didn't outright say things like that..

"I'm not denying anything! Honestly, Tahno, I'm not in love with you! You're not even my type!"

He took a step closer to look at the ring. He wasn't sure how a ring could do something like that. Unless it was blessed by the spirits or something, and even that seemed unlikely.

"Rain would be useful to a waterbender," he told her.

Even if Tohko didn't look bashful or anything, he still saw the blush, and it made him chuckle.

"Yeah, sure, that's what they all say. What is your type, then?"

He actually didn't care, but it would be funny to see what kind of unrealistic expectations she had.

"It probably would be, and it's useful to me when it gets too hot in the Tower or when the water supply decides to shut off. By the way..how can you manipulate water like that? We can't do it back home."

Again, being a lover of magic, Tohko was always happy to learn about different systems of magic and see if she could do them. However, at the chuckle, she sighed and thought, smiling. This was an easy question to answer, seeing as she fell in love in the Tower once.

"A person with a kind heart, sweet words, and a good head on their shoulders. A person who tries to help everyone in need. That's the sort of person I would fall in love with."

There were a couple of floors that held big bodies of water, all of which Xue frequented for various reasons. Sometimes for a swim, sometimes to attempt to fish, other times just to relax.

Usually these floors were empty besides the tower's monsters or creatures, so she was a bit surprised to find someone around. Even more so when she noticed the familiar face.

She didn't want to startle him so she came into view from a good distance away and kept that distance so not to make him uncomfortable if he just wanted space.

"Nice ta see ya 'aven't been swallowed by tha towah yet." she spoke up in a warm tone.

Even seeing her so far away, he couldn't help but flinch. Still, it was obvious she wasn't one of those drones, and he doubted she was out to hurt him, anyway.

"Hey, Xue..." He said, lifting his head up a bit. He didn't change his expression to try and look happy. It wasn't worth it.

"Yeah, the tower hasn't..."

He paused, not wanting to finish the sentence. Any thought of dying was too much right now.

"Not yet, anyway. Guess it hasn't gotten to you yet, either."

"Naw, not me. Aftah all dis time in da towah, I be managin' ta know how ta mostly stay out of unplesant situations mon..." She got a bit closer, just to see if he wanted his space or if she could move closer to help him if she could.

"Remembah when I told ya dis place will be da biggest test ya evah faced? Ya seemed confident back den. Strong, unwaverin' spirit... It'd be best if ya tried ta retain dat here mon." she said as she looked to the distance.

"Dey prey more on da weak willed... Dey try ta break ya not only in body, but in mind an' soul... I wouldn't be wantin' dat ta happen ta joo mon."

He didn't move when she stepped closer. He figured she wasn't out to hurt him, so it was fine.

"I was doing fine until the other day," he said with a sigh. "Nobody said anything about drones or whatever they were."

Listening to that last part was almost a little painful. He still had his Wolfbat pride, but being crushed and torn apart by gears was a pretty big wake-up call.

"It's sick that they can kill you and then just bring you back like it's nothing," he said through a clenched jaw.

Dead things should stay dead, in his opinion.

Xue frowned, the drones that had been running around recently hadn't been completely normal. They had turned a good deal of the residents into them due to the rebellion, but she didn't want to get Tahno involved considering what he had just gone through.

She sighed, looking at him concerned, "Aye... it is mon. But if dey be leavin' us dead dey would run out of guinea pigs for der experiments. All ya can do is survive an' do yer best ta avoid dem situations."

Arturia had been walking by, making her usual rounds of the Tower because she had nothing better to do. Normally, she kept to herself, but she had stopped on this floor, watching the boy bit by bit pull water out of the lagoon, coating himself in it, and then doing something that made it look colder, slushy almost.

The blonde approached him, unable to resist the urge to at least check up on him:

"Are you all right, boy?"

Except she appeared no older than he was. Why was she calling him "boy" of all things?

The sudden voice startled him. All the slushy water that was clinging to him spread out into a half bubble, and as his hands flexed, it froze completely into a sort of shield.

He nearly fell on his back as he turned to see who it was. She didn't look familiar at all. But... she also didn't look like one of those drones.

"I'm fine!" He snapped, scrambling to his feet.

So this boy had magic and was fairly proficient in it. He appeared to be on the hot headed side, but that could be whatever had him on edge speaking. Arturia knew well how this Tower could effect people.

"Then what is it you are doing?"

A ritual, perhaps? But he does not look as serene as someone who would be meditating should.

Dave wandered through the floors a lot. He had been sticking to his room, but sitting around in his room made him pretty antsy. So he started going back out again. Because the last thing he wanted was to be by himself with his thoughts.

Nowadays, that was a pretty bad thing because he didn't have relatively nice ones recently.

Tahno may hear the slight shuffle of feet on the ground and them suddenly stopping. Like a deer caught in headlights and Dave trying to figure out if he should approach him or leave him alone.

Hearing footsteps that actually stopped was slightly less terrifying than yelling or just sneaking up on him. Tahno sighed and turned his head to see who it was.

"Y-You!"

The water that had been on his body was quickly frozen and thrown into the lagoon like a raft. While he wasn't too keen on going into a lagoon with strange creatures in it, it was better than being crushed again. He jumped on and froze his feet in place to keep his balance.

"You wanna take on a Wolfbat this time, kid?!" He asked, letting his bending feel the water beneath him. "I've got the whole lagoon this time!"

With that and his perfect icing moves, he thought that this time, it could be different. Maybe. Still, his face betrayed him and he looked like a scared young boy rather than a champion pro-bender.

Dave took a step back and he held his hands up. That was the look of a kid who definitely didn't want to start shit with someone. His mouth formed a thin line and he felt more guilty than anything. Seeing that look on Tahno's face really nailed it in that he really did all of that. And all he really felt was bad for it.

"I'm not here to do anything. I...I'm just wanderin' the floors is all." He doesn't blame the other for being apprehensive at all. He doesn't blame the other at all for not wanting to be anywhere near him.

"I'm sorry though. For what happened." He shuffles from foot to foot, anxiously. "Look. If you want to get back at me, just fucking do it. It's not like I don't deserve it. I ain't here to do anything, but if you want revenge. Well, that's cool. I'm not gonna fucking hold it to you." He let's his arms drop. "I'm not gonna retaliate. I ain't even gonna run. What I did. That was fucked up as hell."

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Wave 3 | Aftermath - Open

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